§24.9Non in hoc exempla nunc congero, ut ingenium exerceam, sed ut te adversus id, quod maxime terribile videtur, exhorter.
I do not collect these examples now in order to exercise my wit, but to encourage you against that which seems most terrible.
Facilius autem exhortabor, si ostendero non fortes tantum viros hoc momentum efflandae animae contempsisse, sed quosdam ad alia ignavos in hac re aequasse animum fortissimorum, sicut illum Cn. Pompei socerum Scipionem, qui contrario in Africam vento relatus cum teneri navem suam vidisset ab hostibus, ferro se transverberavit et quaerentibus, ubi imperator esset, "Imperator," inquit, "se bene habet. " §24.10Vox haec illum parem maioribus fecit et fatalem Scipionibus in Africa gloriam non est interrumpi passa.
And I shall encourage you more easily if I show that not only brave men have despised this moment of breathing out the soul, but that certain men, otherwise cowardly, have in this matter equalled the spirit of the bravest—such as that Scipio, the father-in-law of Gnaeus Pompeius, who, driven back to Africa by a contrary wind, when he saw his ship being held by the enemy, ran himself through with a sword, and to those asking where the commander was, said, "The commander is doing well." This utterance made him equal to his ancestors and did not allow the glory destined for the Scipios in Africa to be interrupted.
Multum fuit Carthaginem vincere, sed amplius mortem.
It was a great thing to conquer Carthage, but a greater thing to conquer death.
"Imperator," inquit, "se bene habet.
"The commander is doing well," he said.
"An aliter debebat imperator, et quidem Catenis, mori?
Ought a commander to die in any other way—and that too, in chains?
§24.11Non revoco te ad historias nec ex omnibus saeculis contemptores mortis, qui sunt plurimi, colligo.
I do not recall you to history, nor do I collect from all ages the despisers of death, who are very numerous.
Respice ad haec nostra tempora, de quorum languore ac deliciis querimur; omnis ordinis homines suggerent, omnis fortunae, omnis aetatis, qui mala sua morte praeciderint.
Look back at these times of ours, of whose languor and luxury we complain; they will suggest men of every class, of every fortune, of every age, who have cut short their evils by death.
Mihi crede, Lucili, adeo mors timenda non est, ut beneficio eius nihil timendum sit.
Believe me, Lucilius, death is so little to be feared that by its benefit nothing is to be feared.
Securus itaque inimici minas audi.
Therefore, hear the threats of your enemy with a mind at ease.
§24.12Et quamvis conscientia tibi tua fiduciam faciat, tamen quia multa extra causam valent, et quod aequissimum est spera, et ad id te quod est iniquissimum conpara.
And although your conscience gives you confidence, yet because many things outside the case have power, both hope for what is most just, and prepare yourself for what is most unjust.
Illud autem ante omnia memento, demere rebus tumultum ac videre, quid in quaque re sit; scies nihil esse in istis terribile nisi ipsum timorem.
But remember this above all: to strip things of their confusion and see what is in each thing; you will know that there is nothing terrible in those things except fear itself.
§24.13Quod vides accidere pueris, hoc nobis quoque maiusculis pueris evenit: illi quos amant, quibus adsueverunt, cum quibus ludunt, si personatos vident, expavescunt.
What you see happening to children, this happens to us too, who are larger children: they, if they see those whom they love, to whom they have become accustomed, with whom they play, wearing masks, are terrified.
Non hominibus tantum, sed rebus persona demenda est et reddenda facies sua.
A mask must be stripped off not only from men, but from things, and their own face must be restored to them.
§24.14Quid mihi gladios et ignes ostendis et turbam carnificum circa te frementem? Tolle istam pompam, sub qua lates et stultos territas! Mors es, quam nuper servus meus, quam ancilla contempsit.
Why do you show me swords and fires and a crowd of executioners roaring around you? Take away that pomp under which you hide and terrify fools! You are death, whom lately my slave, whom my handmaid despised.
Quid tu rursus mihi flagella et eculeos magno apparatu explicas? Quid singulis articulis singula machinamenta, quibus extorqueantur, aptata et mille alia instrumenta excarnificandi particulatim hominis? Pone ista, quae nos obstupefaciunt.
Why do you again unfold before me whips and racks with great display? Why devices fitted to each joint, by which they may be wrenched, and a thousand other instruments for torturing a man piece by piece? Put aside those things which stupefy us.
Iube conticiscere gemitus et exclamationes et vocum inter lacerationem elisarum acerbitatem! Nempe dolor es, quem podagricus ille contemnit, quem stomachicus ille in ipsis deliciis perfert, quem in puerperio puella perpetitur.
Order the groans and shrieks and the bitterness of voices squeezed out during laceration to be silent! Surely you are pain, whom that gouty man despises, whom that sufferer of stomach ache endures in the midst of his very pleasures, whom a girl endures in childbirth.
Levis es, si ferre possum, brevis es, si ferre non possum.
You are light, if I can bear you; you are short, if I cannot bear you.
§24.15Haec in animo voluta, quae saepe audisti, saepe dixisti.
Ponder these things in your mind, which you have often heard, often said.
Sed an vere audieris, an vere dixeris, effectu proba.
But whether you have truly heard, or truly said them, prove by the result.
Hoc enim turpissimum est, quod nobis obici solet, verba nos philosophiae, non opera tractare.
For this is most shameful, which is wont to be objected to us, that we deal with the words of philosophy, not its works.
Quid, tu nunc primum tibi mortem inminere scisti, nunc exilium, nunc dolorem? In haec natus es.
What? Did you know only now that death, only now that exile, only now that pain is imminent for you? You were born for these things.
Quicquid fieri potest, quasi futurum cogitemus.
Whatever can happen, let us think of it as if it will happen.
§24.16Quod facere te moneo, scio certe te fecisse; nunc admoneo, ut animum tuum non mergas in istam sollicitudinem.
What I advise you to do, I know for certain you have done; now I admonish you not to submerge your mind in that anxiety.
Hebetabitur enim et minus habebit vigoris, cum exurgendum erit.
For it will be dulled and will have less vigor when it is necessary to rise up.
Abduc illum a privata causa ad publicam.
Lead it away from your private case to the public one.
Dic mortale tibi et fragile corpusculum esse, cui non ex iniuria tantum aut ex potentioris viribus denuntiabitur dolor.
Say that you have a mortal and fragile body, to which pain will be threatened not only from injustice or from the power of a stronger man.
Ipsae voluptates in tormenta vertuntur, epulae cruditatem adferunt, ebrietates nervorum torporem tremoremque, libidines pedum, manuum, articulorum omnium depravationes.
Pleasures themselves turn into torments, banquets bring indigestion, drunkenness brings numbness and trembling of the nerves, lusts bring distortions of feet, hands, and of all joints.
§24.17Pauper fiam; inter plures ero.
I shall become poor; I shall be among the majority.
Exul fiam; ibi me natum putabo, quo mittar.
I shall become an exile; I shall think myself born there, where I am sent.
Alligabor;
I shall be bound; what of it?
quid enim? Nunc solutus sum? Ad hoc me natura grave corporis mei pondus adstrinxit.
Am I free now? Nature has bound me to this heavy weight of my body.
Moriar; hoc dicis, desinam aegrotare posse, desinam alligari posse, desinam mori posse.
I shall die; you say this, but it means I shall cease to be able to be sick, I shall cease to be able to be bound, I shall cease to be able to die.